1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to claims processing for policies relating to the life and health of a person, such as a life insurance policy, an annuity policy, a disability insurance policy, a supplementary health, a medicare supplementary benefits policy, a long-term care insurance policy, or any policy paying benefits or requiring a policy change on an event such as death, terminal illness, disability, a need for long-term care, health changes, medical/health services. In particular, embodiments relate to systems and methods of processing claims on multiple policies.
2. Description of the Related Art
To administer a claim for benefits provided by a life insurance policy, an annuity policy, a disability insurance policy, a supplementary health, a medicare supplementary benefits policy, a long-term care insurance policy, or any policy paying benefits similar to those above, a substantial amount of information must be collected and managed. Appropriate documentation must be identified and obtained, such as death certificates in the case of a claim of a life insurance benefit or medical provider verification of condition or service in the case of health/supplementary health. Handling claims relating to a given insured from the time that notice is received through final settlement and payment may involve collecting numerous pieces of documentation (police report, medical examination reports, etc.) to support payment on the claims, tracking numerous documents, generating and receiving numerous pieces of correspondence, and calculating and issue payment to multiple beneficiaries. Managing such information can be cumbersome and time consuming.
In some cases, an insured has more than one policy with a particular insurance company or its servicing affiliates. For example, an individual may have life insurance policies, a disability policy, and a long-term care policy with the same company, or processed by the same company on behalf of one or more other companies. Each policy may have different beneficiaries, premiums, and other terms and conditions.
Typically, an insurance carrier may look at claims for an insured on a policy-by-policy basis. The administration of claims for insureds with more than one policy can be fragmented and paper intensive. For example, if an insured has two life insurance claims with an carrier, the carrier may generate two sets of information requirements, one for each policy, issue two checks to beneficiaries, one for each policy, etc. Fulfilling such information requirements in such cases involves duplication in the claims administration process, providing additional opportunities for error, fraud and other management issues. Additional, more interaction may be required with outside persons and entities. The additional red tape may also place burdens on the insured or the insured family members. For example, a grieving spouse may receive a request for a death certificate under one policy, even if the spouse has already provided the request for another policy.